


The Palace of Ice

by extremelyperturbed



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Drama, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-24
Updated: 2013-12-24
Packaged: 2018-01-05 21:36:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1098855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/extremelyperturbed/pseuds/extremelyperturbed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just a very short riff on The Snow Queen</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Palace of Ice

“There is a creature who lives in the north called the Snow King. He is something that looks like a man but is not. Nobody knows what he is, precisely. He wears the appearance of a man like one would wear a suit, a veil to hide the truth. If he beckons for you to come, you must not go with him,” said Bedelia the town storyteller.

“What will he do to you if you follow him?” said Will, one of the boys listening to her speak.

“Nobody that the Snow King has taken has ever come back. And since nobody comes back, nobody knows what he does with them or where they've gone.” 

Alana, his neighbor and friend, shivered slightly. “Ugh.”

As they walked home, Will said, “I think I’ve seen the Snow King.”

“You have? Please tell me it was a dream.” She worried, however, that it was another one of his visions. Ever since she had known him, he saw things that were terrible and hideous that unfortunately also seemed to pull him in like his lures caught fish. 

“I don’t think it was a dream. I was looking outside the window, watching the snow fall when I saw someone who looked like he was made out of snow standing in my backyard. He was dressed in a white coat trimmed with white fur, waving at me to come out. I didn’t, though. I just dove under the blankets of my bed.”

“Whatever you do, you mustn't go with him."

"I won't."

***

“I’m going sledding in the village square,” said Will, carrying his sled on his back, standing at Alana‘s door. “Are you coming?”

“I can’t,” said Alana as she sniffed, her eyes and cheeks red. “I’ve got a horrible cold.”

“I guess I’ll have to go by myself then,” said Will. 

“Perhaps, I will be well tomorrow.”

“I’ll come by tomorrow morning.”

Will ran to the square. He noticed that Brian and Jimmy were tying their sleds to passing carts so they could be pulled along for a ride to the edge of town before they untied their sleds and came back to the square. 

A large white sleigh pulled by a team of black deer came into the square. The driver was wrapped in a white fur coat with a hood. It drove around the square slowly enough that Will could run and tie his sled to it. He had expected the deer to continue their slow pace. However, once he had done so, the sleigh suddenly picked up speed and headed for the edge of town. The driver turned around and saw that Will’s sled was still attached to his sled but did not slow down the sleigh in the least. Terrified, Will took out his pocket knife and cut the ties between his sled and the other but his sled still followed the other. He cried out for help and for the driver to stop but he might as well have kept silent for all the good it did him. 

Finally, the sleigh in front of him stopped in the middle of a vast, empty white plain. The driver got off and pulled back his hood to reveal the man who had been standing outside his bedroom window. 

“You’re the Snow King,” said Will, holding his pocket knife in front of him.

“That’s one of my many names, yes,” he said.

“Please, you must take me back home,” said Will. 

“You’re the one rude enough to tie your vehicle to mine.”

“Then I will try to find my own way home,” said Will. He turned to leave, only to face a blizzard that stood between him and his village. 

“Nonsense,” said the Snow King. “We are much closer to my home than yours. Come and sit besides me, I have a fur you can wrap around yourself.” 

Reluctantly, he did as he was asked. The Snow King gave him a kiss and he felt an intense cold flow through his veins. A few moments later, he found himself no longer feeling the freezing bite of the air. Another kiss and his mind felt as if it was put on ice. He tried to recall why he had been so wary of the man driving the sled but it escaped him. He could only lean into him and let the Snow King whisper words into his ears in a language he did not know, the language of fallen angels. 

In the distance, Will saw a palace made of ice. 

"What's that?"

"That is our home." 

"It's beautiful."

"And you make a wonderful addition to it."

***

Months later, it was spring and the snow had thawed. And yet, there was still no sign of Will, living or dead. All they had found was his sled several miles away from town. 

Alana packed up what little she had and put on her good boots. 

“He’s probably already dead,” her friends told her. 

“I‘m still going to look,” she said before walking off into the whole wide world.

The End


End file.
